Value of this Lee Enfield

Gnome75

Gnome75

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
95   0   0
Location
Wainwright
https://www.dropbox.com/s/61l31auds9azu69/20151105_130604.jpg?dl=0

I am just wondering what the value of this Lee Enfield is. I have restored it because some sick F*** sporterized it, so there is not a matching serial number. It is was made in 1943 and has the (F) marking on it. It also has the Malaysia stamp on it as well but it is made in England. The bore is not perfect however is shoots straight and cycles perfectly. It is also a JC serial number if that helps anyone.

What would the value be? All the Enfields on the EE seem to be sporterized or all matching numbers.
 
Sick #### is a bit harsh unless it was sporterized yesterday. The old timers packed their rifles all the way across Europe and probably thought about how to make it lighter the whole time. 303s were dirt cheap when they got back. As to your gun, its hard to tell with only one picture but I'll say 400.00 if restored and non-matching.
 
Just to add a bit of history.
The Lee Enfield's didn't come on the market in vast numbers until several years after the war was over. In BC, the big stores like Spencers, Woodwards, Army and Navy, etc. got trainloads of them. They all reasoned that no hunter in their right mind would carry a government issued 303 on a hunting trip. So they chopped the wood down. They would gladly sell you the full wood at the same price, if you got to them in time.
Thus, virtually all the chopped Lee Enfield's we see today, were cut down by the big retailers.
 
H4831 said:
Just to add a bit of history.
The Lee Enfield's didn't come on the market in vast numbers until several years after the war was over. In BC, the big stores like Spencers, Woodwards, Army and Navy, etc. got trainloads of them. They all reasoned that no hunter in their right mind would carry a government issued 303 on a hunting trip. So they chopped the wood down. They would gladly sell you the full wood at the same price, if you got to them in time.
Thus, virtually all the chopped Lee Enfield's we see today, were cut down by the big retailers.
Click to expand...

In the early 1960s one of the bigger hardware stores in Saskatoon sold the full wood Lee Enfields regardless of model for $ 13.00.
The sportered ones went for $ 19.00.
 
Looks nice. As above, around $400 to 450 if well done. I haven't seen one go for less than 400 unless it was in rough shape. And as the guys say, in the aftermath of the war, nobody wanted a full wood rifle. Sported means exactly that. It is now good for sporting. I bought my first at a pawn shop for about $10 in 1969. It was rough, dirty and full wood. I took it home and made a nice sporter out of it. Well, nice to a 18 year old kid with little talent.
 
I don't want to sign into the photo site you posted but by your description I am assuming the rifle is a No4 MkI.

Not matching, POOR BORE = $325 IMHO and that depends of if the bore looks like it might actually group, IF the ways are tight and true.

I ran into a very similar rifle as you describe a few days ago and like yours was a complete mixmaster of parts. That really isn't a big deal for a shooter grade rifle. if the receiver is bedded properly in the fore end and there is the proper amount of upward pressure on the barrel etc.

We shot the rifle on his farm and I let him do the shooting. My shoulder was giving me hell. I let him shoot my excellent condition No4 MkI*, 1950 Long Branch which is the most accurate No4 I have ever come across. He shot it well so I ruled out operator error. Then he shot his rifle. It was more of a shot pattern than a group. The butt stock bolt was tight and the wood looked to be very good all over but it was obvioust there was pressure on the left side of the fore end.

He had a decent shop with some screwdrivers he didn't mind me grinding to fit the very nice, new looking screw heads on the bands and the king screw. That was the beginning of the cause.

The king screw was soft because the spacer that should have been underneath was missing. After we got the stock off it was also apparent the ways were OK but they weren't square. The receiver would actually pivot to the left because the way on that side was slightly shorter than the way on the right. There were wear marks on both and it almost looked like the stock had come from the factory that way. We replaced the wood on each side so that they were square to the action without any play. The wood was well oil soaked so we opted for the old style of bedding shims used on some of the No1 rifles, copper, screwed down with flat head counter sunk screws. I have always wanted to try doing that and in all honesty I think it is a lot quicker and easier than cutting out and gluing in wood blocks then shaping them to fit. The rifle shot very well once the ways were trued and a spacer had been installed. Luckily the fore end pressure was sufficient for consistency.

I am not saying the OPs rifle will have this issue at all. For me if I was going to purchase this rifle as a shooter I would be worried. It is a shooter grade mix master so even if everything were very good or better and the ways were OK, it still wouldn't be worth more than $400. Without being able to shoot it and actually buying a pig in a poke I would value it at best, the value of the sum of its parts, $325.
 
Last edited:
you're forgetting that eatons and hbc also sold these by the ton to the first nations people- I remember seeing walls full of lees in the Winnipeg hbc at portage and main- and the 69.95 version had new wood made and checkering- everyting to impress the would be hunter of that generation
 
Glad to see these prices. I have a restored No. 4 I have been contemplating selling ('44 Maltby, variant marked No. 4 Mk. I*, NOS forend and handguards), and would not have been asking that much.
 
I kinda thought it would be 300-400 but was not sure. I paid 100 for the rifle and put a 100 in for parts. I am satisfied with my first rifle purchase. Then I discovered ammo prices.....then .303 prices..... looking back 20 bucks a box was not that bad by comparison to today.

My dad just saw it in a closet at work, he said it had been there for at least 8 years so he brought it home a day after I bought the rifle. I was super excited and surprised to see it was an enfield box. What is the box worth?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom